Security cameras at businesses near Marine Circle could hold the key to catching two men who sexually assaulted a MyCiTi bus driver.
The driver is getting counselling and has been booked off work since the incident.
According to MyCiTi vehicle operating company, Kidrogen Pty Ltd, the driver was on her way from the beachfront to Bayside Mall on Sunday May 19, at 7.30am, when two men boarded at the Marine Circle stop.
Leah Eckles, Kidrogen’s industrial relations officer, said the 53-year-old driver was still shaken and did not want to be identified or interviewed.
Ms Eckles said the driver had told her that she had been writing in her logbook when the two men climbed on the bus.
“They immediately started terrorising her. One of them stuck his hand through the opening in the driver’s cab window and managed to get his hands on the bus’s main switch and switched the bus off,” said Ms Eckles.
The man who had switched off the bus had then unbuttoned his pants, exposing his genitals and brushed them up against the driver’s window.
He had tried to force the cab door open to get to the driver and had made sexually explicit demands.
The driver had reported smelling alcohol on his breath, said Ms Eckles.
“The other guy lit a cigarette and was laughing and seemed to be having a fabulous time as if he was at the movies. She realised that she wasn’t going to be able to hold the door closed for much longer and decided to jump out using the other door and ran to a nearby petrol station,” Ms Eckles said.
The men ran off when they saw the driver fleeing.
Kidrogen CEO Andile Peter said this was the latest in a string of disturbing incidents, including the stoning and torching of buses and vandalism of stations.
“As much as the public is dependent on the bus service and our bus drivers to get them from point A to point B, we too are dependent on the public to create an environment where drivers can operate optimally,” he said.
According to Ms Eckles, some of MyCiTi’s small feeder buses – such as the one in this incident – do not have cameras, but Kidrogen believes there is a chance cameras at nearby businesses captured footage that could help to catch the assailants.Table View police spokeswoman Captain Adriana Chandler said police were investigating a case of sexual assault, but she was unable to provide further detail by the time this edition went to print.
